Light projector

ABSTRACT

A light projector for an augmented reality headset is disclosed. First and second optical arrangements receive light from a polarising beam splitter so that light is reflected, focused and directed back towards the polarising beam splitter from each optical arrangement. The first and second optical arrangements comprise first and second mirrors and first and second quarter-wave plates. The polarising beam splitter receives and combines light from the first and second optical arrangements so that the combined light, which is unpolarised, is provided to an exit pupil. The first and second optical arrangements are angled relative to one another so that the image from the first optical arrangement is aligned with the image from the second optical arrangement.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/960,311, filed Jul. 6, 2020, which is a U.S. national-phaseapplication filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371 from International ApplicationSerial No. PCT/GB2019/050031, filed Jan. 7, 2019, and published as WO2019/141967 on Jul. 25, 2019, which claims the benefit of priority to GBPatent Application Serial No. 1800762.5, filed Jan. 17, 2018, each ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The present disclosure relates to a light projector, in particular alight projector for augmented reality or virtual reality applications.

In an augmented reality headset a transparent waveguide is provided infront of a user's eye or eyes. A light projector transmits light towardsthe waveguide. Light from the projector can be coupled into thewaveguide by an input diffraction grating.

Light then propagates within the waveguide by total internal reflectionand an output diffraction grating couples light out of the waveguide andtowards a viewer. In use, a viewer can see light from their externalenvironment, transmitted through the transparent waveguide, as well asprojected light from the projector. This can provide an augmentedreality experience.

Bird bath projectors have been used for generating an image to betransmitted towards an augmented reality waveguide. An operationalprinciple of bird bath projectors is that they provide light in a firstdirection and then focus light for output in a second direction that isperpendicular to the first direction. Beam splitters are typically usedin bird bath designs in order to turn light through 90°. These designscan operate with high efficiency when the input light is linearlypolarised.

Co-pending patent application GB 1714414.8 describes a bird bathprojector that uses a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panel to generatean image in reflected light. Generally LCOS panels are illuminated withlinearly polarised light. LCOS panel pixels can be set to ‘bright’ or‘dark’. In one arrangement ‘dark’ pixels reflect light with itspolarisation state unchanged. ‘Bright’ pixels can reflect light with itspolarisation state shifted or transformed. The ‘bright’ and ‘dark’pixels can then be separated using a polarisation filter such as apolarisation beam splitter that will only pass light from the ‘bright’pixels. In this way, light from ‘dark’ pixels can be filtered so that itdoes not progress towards an exit pupil and the augmented realitywaveguide. This design is very effective. However, it is only suitablewhere the input light is linearly polarised.

Unpolarised light sources can be used, but only if they are first passedthrough a linear polarisation filter, which typically rejects around 50%of the unpolarised incident light. It would be desirable to produce aprojector that can make use of unpolarised light sources while operatingwith higher efficiency.

An objective in the field of augmented reality is to provide a fullcolour wearable display with projected light. A number of challenges arepresented for light projectors within these wearable displays. Batteriesin a wearable display need to be kept small and lightweight, andtherefore battery resources need to be carefully managed. In addition,optical components need to be made compact and robust so that they canbe easily integrated within a headset that can withstand roughtreatment.

The present disclosure addresses some of these issues.

According to an aspect of the disclosure there is provided a lightprojector for an augmented reality headset, comprising: an imagegenerator configured to provide an image with unpolarised light; a beamsplitter configured to receive unpolarised light from the imagegenerator and to split it into a first path and a second path; a firstoptical arrangement configured to receive light from the beam splitterin the first path so that light is reflected, focused and directed backtowards the beam splitter; and a second optical arrangement configuredto receive light from the beam splitter in the second path so that lightis reflected, focused and directed back towards the beam splitter,wherein the first and second optical arrangements comprise first andsecond mirrors; wherein the beam splitter is configured to receive andcombine light from the first and second optical arrangements so that thecombined light, which is unpolarised, is provided to an exit pupil, andwherein the first and second optical arrangements are angled relative toone another so that the image from the first path is aligned with theimage from the second path.

In this way, unpolarised light can be output from a projector with highefficiency. The efficiency of the projector is optimised because,following interaction with a beam splitter, light from the first andsecond paths can be combined and provided to the exit pupil. This canadvantageously reduce the power consumption of the projector which canhelp to conserve limited battery resources in an augmented realityheadset.

Preferably the first and second mirrors have an optical power to focuslight; for example, the mirrors may be concave. The concave mirrors,which are preferably spherical, can focus and reflect light in the firstand second paths so that images from the respective paths can beprovided to the exit pupil for injection into an augmented realitywaveguide. In some embodiments the first and second optical arrangementsmay comprise an additional component, such as a lens, that provides anoptical power to focus or collimate the light.

Preferably the beam splitter is a polarising beam splitter that isconfigured to reflect linearly polarised light of a first orientationand to transmit linearly polarised light of a second orientation,wherein the first orientation is orthogonal to the second orientation.Thus, unpolarised light from the image generator can be divided intolinearly polarised components in the two split paths. Light returnedfrom the first and second paths can then be recombined at the polarisingbeam splitter so that unpolarised light can be provided at the exitpupil. Use of a polarising beam splitter is advantageous because itmeans that the projector can operate with a very high efficiency—closeto 100%.

The first and second optical components may comprise quarter-waveplates. Light can encounter the quarter-wave plates twice in each of thefirst and second optical paths. In this way, the quarter-wave plate cantransform linearly polarised light from the polarising beam splitterinto circularly polarised light. The handedness of the circularlypolarised light can be reversed by a reflection from the mirror. Asecond interaction with the quarter-wave plate can then transform thecircularly polarised light into linearly polarised light with anorientation that is perpendicular to the orientation of the originalpolarisation. Thus, light that was originally transmitted by thepolarising beam splitter along the first optical path can be reflectedwhen it interacts with the beam splitter for a second time. Equally,light that was originally reflected by the polarising beam splitteralong the second optical path can be transmitted when it interacts withthe beam splitter for a second time. This can produce a compact opticalsystem that operates with high efficiency.

The beam splitter may comprise a partially reflective surface forunpolarised light. For example, the beam splitter may be half-silveredor it may include a dichroic optical coating. These beam splitterspreferably transmit and reflect around 50% of incident light and theyare generally insensitive to its polarisation state.

Preferably the image generator is a LED array. Micro LED arrays canprovide full colour images in a very small area. The light output fromthese arrays is typically unpolarised. A full colour image may beproduced by high frequency operation of red, green and blue LEDs so thatthe combination of these individual components is perceived by the humaneye as a full colour image. In other arrangements unpolarised images maybe optically relayed to the beam splitter from a variety of alternativesources.

The beam splitter is preferably a rectangular cuboid comprising a topface, a bottom face, and four side faces. The first optical arrangement,the second optical arrangement, the exit pupil and the image generatorare preferably attached to respective side faces. This can provide acompact and physically robust design where all of the necessarycomponents are attached or bonded to the beam splitter. Thus, the beamsplitter, which is preferably cubic, can form the building block onwhich the other components are securely mounted.

According to another aspect of the disclosure there is provided anaugmented reality headset comprising: the light projector as previouslydefined; a power source configured to supply electrical energy to thelight projector; a waveguide configured to receive light from the lightprojector exit pupil and to couple it towards a viewer; and a mountingadapted to fit on the viewer's head. The power source can be providedwith a longer lifetime due to the increased efficiency of the projector.Alternatively, a smaller battery can be provided with a similar lifetimein comparison to previous batteries for use with lower efficiencyprojectors.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure there is provided amethod of assembling a light projector for an augmented reality headset,comprising the steps of: providing an image generator configured toprovide an image with unpolarised light; arranging a beam splitter toreceive unpolarised light from the image generator and to split it intoa first path and a second path; arranging a first optical arrangementincluding a first mirror to reflect and focus light in the first path sothat the light is directed towards the beam splitter; arranging a secondoptical arrangement including a second mirror to reflect and focus lightin the second path so that the light is directed towards the beamsplitter; and aligning the first and second optical arrangements so thatthe image from the first path is aligned with the image from the secondpath when they are combined by the beam splitter and provided to an exitpupil as unpolarised light.

Embodiments of the disclosure are now described, by way of example, withreference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a light projector in an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a light projector in another embodiment of thedisclosure; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an augmented reality headset including alight projector in another embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 shows a light projector 2 comprising an illumination source 4. Inthis example the illumination source 4 is a micro LED array includingindividual red, green and blue LEDs. The individual LEDs can becontrolled to generate an image. Red, green and blue LEDs are operatedsequentially at a high frequency so that the human eye only perceivesthe cumulative effect of the individual colours in order to provide afull colour image. The light output from the illumination source 4 isunpolarised. Any type of illumination source using unpolarised lightcould be used, as an alternative to a micro LED array, with the imagerelayed to the position of the illumination source 4.

The light projector 2 includes a polarising beam splitter 6 such as awire grid polariser, a field lens array 8 which includes a doublet lens,a first spherical mirror 12, a first quarter-wave plate 14, a secondspherical mirror 22 and a second quarter-wave plate 24. Light projectorsof this type including spherical mirrors are sometimes referred to asbird bath projectors.

The cubic polarising beam splitter 6 is made of N-BK7 and has dimensionsof 8.5×8.5×11.5 mm (and is not therefore a cube in the strict geometricsense). The air-glass surfaces of the beam splitter 6 have a broadbandanti-reflection coating applied. The active surface of the beam splitter6 is arranged to reflect s-polarised light and transmit p-polarisedlight. The unpolarised light from the illumination source 4 is splitinto first and second paths by the beam splitter 6 where the first pathcomprises p-polarised light and the second path comprises s-polarisedlight.

The first optical path with p-polarised light is transmitted on thefirst interaction with the beam splitter 6. The light is then incidenton the first quarter-wave plate 14, which is attached to one surface ofthe beam splitter 6. The first quarter-wave plate 14 receivesp-polarised light from the polarising beam splitter 6 and transforms itinto right-hand circularly polarised light. The first spherical mirror12 reflects and collimates the light. The handedness of the polarisedlight is reversed upon reflection so that it becomes left-handcircularly polarised.

The reflected light from the first spherical mirror 12 encounters thefirst quarter-wave plate 14 once more as it passes back towards the beamsplitter 6. The first quarter-wave plate 14 receives left-handcircularly polarised light and transforms it into s-polarisation. Thecollimated s-polarised light is reflected by the polarising beamsplitter 6 with high efficiency at the active surface. The light canthen exit the polarising beam splitter 6 where it is received at a pupillens 11. Light from the pupil lens 11 can be directed towards anaugmented reality waveguide (not shown). A fold prism (not shown) with ahigh refractive index can be used to reflect the optical path towards aninput grating of the augmented reality waveguide.

The second optical path with s-polarised light is reflected on the firstinteraction with the beam splitter 6. The s-polarised light extendstowards the second quarter-wave plate 24 which is bonded to a surface ofthe beam splitter 6. The second quarter-wave plate 24 receivess-polarised light and transforms it into left-hand circularly polarisedlight. The second spherical mirror 22 reflects and collimates the light.The handedness of the polarised light is reversed upon reflection sothat it becomes right-hand circularly polarised. The reflected lightfrom the second spherical mirror 22 encounters the second quarter-waveplate 24 once more as it passes back towards the beam splitter 6. Thesecond quarter-wave plate 24 receives right-hand circularly polarisedlight and transforms it into p-polarisation. The collimated p-polarisedlight is transmitted by the polarising beam splitter 6 with highefficiency at the active surface. The p-polarised light from the secondoptical path is then combined with s-polarised light from the firstoptical path and, together, they are combined to form unpolarised lightthat can exit the polarising beam splitter 6 towards the pupil lens 11.

The field lens 8 is configured to control rays from the illuminationsource 4 and to balance the aberrations generated within the polarisingbeam splitter 6 and the first and second spherical mirrors 12, 22.

The image produced by the illumination source 4 is carried by light inboth the first and second optical paths. It is important that the imagesfrom the two optical paths are aligned when the light from the first andsecond optical paths is re-combined at the beam splitter 6. Anymisalignment would result in two separate images being visible, which isundesirable.

The images from the first and second optical paths are aligned duringassembly of the projector 2. The first mirror 12 is fixedly attached tothe beam splitter 6. The second mirror 22 is movable, and its positioncan be adjusted. During assembly a test image is produced by theillumination source 4. The position and/or orientation of the secondmirror 22 is adjusted until the images from the first and second pathsare precisely aligned. The second mirror 22 can then be fixed inposition. All of the optical components in the projector 2 are attachedto surfaces of the cubic beam splitter 6. It is therefore unlikely thatcomponents could become misaligned after assembly, even under roughtreatment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a light projector 102 in another embodiment ofthe disclosure. In this embodiment the beam splitter 106 has a partiallyreflective active surface for unpolarised light. In one example the beamsplitter may be half-silvered or it may include a dichroic opticalcoating. These beam splitters typically transmit and reflect around 50%of incident light with no sensitivity to the polarisation of theincident light. There are no quarter-wave plates attached to the beamsplitter 106 in this embodiment.

In this example an image is generated by the illumination source 104using unpolarised light. The unpolarised light from the illuminationsource 104 is split into first and second paths by the beam splitter106, and approximately half of the incident light is provided to thefirst path and half of the incident light is provided to the secondpath.

The first optical path comprises unpolarised light that is transmittedon the first interaction with the beam splitter 106. The light is thenincident on the first spherical mirror 112 which collimates the lightand reflects it back towards the beam splitter 106. At the secondinteraction with the beam splitter 106 light around half of the light istransmitted and around half of the light is reflected. The reflectedlight extends towards the exit pupil 111 where it can exit the projector102. The transmitted light extends back towards the illumination source104.

The second optical path comprises unpolarised light that is reflected onthe first interaction with the beam splitter 106. The light is thenincident on the second spherical mirror 122 which collimates the lightand reflects it back towards the beam splitter 106. At the secondinteraction with the beam splitter 106 light around half of the light istransmitted and around half of the light is reflected. The transmittedlight is re-combined with the reflected light from the first opticalpath. The re-combined light, which is unpolarised, extends towards theexit pupil 111 where it can exit the projector 102. In the secondoptical path, light that is reflected on the second interaction with thebeam splitter 106 extends back towards the illumination source 104.

Light that extends back towards the illumination source 104 is ‘wasted’light in this arrangement because it does not exit the projector 102towards an augmented reality waveguide. Therefore, in this arrangement,the maximum optical efficiency of the projector is around 50%.Embodiments using partially reflective beam splitters are therefore lesspreferred than embodiments that use polarisation beam splitters.

The optical system comprises optical components that have planar orspherical surfaces only. There are no aspherical components present,which advantageously reduces the cost of the projector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an augmented reality headset 30. Theheadset 30 includes a waveguide 32 extending in front of a user's eyes.A headband 34 extends over the top of the user's head. The headband 34is deformable and elastic so that it can adapt to different sizes ofhead. A counterweight 36 is provided at the rear of the user's head inorder to counteract the weight of the components at the front of theuser's head and to increase the comfort of the headset. Thecounterweight 36 includes control electronics 40 for a projector and abattery 38. Control signals from the control electronics and electricalpower cable are carried in the headband 34 towards a projector (notshown) that is integrated within a housing 42 adjacent the user's brow.The projector can operate in the manner described above in order toproduce an image and couple it into the waveguide 32. This can allow auser to see the projected image as well as ‘real world’ light that istransmitted through the transparent waveguide 32.

1. A light projector for an augmented reality headset, comprising: animage generator configured to provide an image with unpolarised light; apolarising beam splitter configured to receive unpolarised light fromthe image generator and to split it into a first path and a second pathby reflecting linearly polarised light of a first orientation andtransmitting linearly polarised light of a second orientation, whereinthe first orientation is orthogonal to the second orientation; a firstoptical arrangement configured to receive light from the polarising beamsplitter in the first path so that light is reflected, focused anddirected back towards the polarising beam splitter; and a second opticalarrangement configured to receive light from the polarising beamsplitter in the second path so that light is reflected, focused anddirected back towards the polarising beam splitter, wherein the firstand second optical arrangements comprise first and second mirrors andfirst and second quarter-wave plates respectively so that lightencounters the first and second quarter-wave plates twice in the firstand second paths; wherein the polarising beam splitter is configured toreceive and combine light from the first and second optical arrangementsso that the combined light, which is unpolarised, is provided to an exitpupil, and wherein the first and second optical arrangements are angledrelative to one another so that the image from the first path is alignedwith the image from the second path.
 2. The light projector of claim 1,wherein: the first and second mirrors are configured to focus light. 3.The light projector of claim 2, wherein: the first and second mirrorsare first and second concave mirrors.
 4. The light projector of claim 3,wherein each of the first and second concave mirrors is a sphericalmirror.
 5. The light projector of claim 1, wherein: the first and secondoptical arrangements further comprise first and second lensesrespectively for focusing or collimating the light of the first path andsecond path respectively.
 6. The light projector of claim 1, wherein theimage generator comprises a LED array.
 7. The light projector of claim6, wherein the image generator comprises a micro LED array.
 8. The lightprojector of claim 1, wherein the polarising beam splitter is arectangular cuboid comprising a top face, a bottom face, and four sidefaces, wherein the first optical arrangement, the second opticalarrangement, the exit pupil and the image generator are attached torespective side faces.
 9. A light projector for an augmented realityheadset, comprising: an image generator configured to provide an imagewith unpolarised light; a beam splitter configured to receiveunpolarised light from the image generator and to split it into a firstpath and a second path; a first optical arrangement configured toreceive light from the beam splitter in the first path so that light isreflected, focused and directed back towards the beam splitter; and asecond optical arrangement configured to receive light from the beamsplitter in the second path so that light is reflected, focused anddirected back towards the beam splitter, wherein the first and secondoptical arrangements have time-invariant optical properties, and includefirst and second mirrors respectively; and wherein the beam splitter isconfigured to receive and combine light from the first and secondoptical arrangements so that the combined light, which is unpolarised,is provided to an exit pupil, and wherein the first and second opticalarrangements are angled relative to one another so that the image fromthe first path is aligned with the image from the second path.
 10. Thelight projector of claim 9, wherein: the first and second mirrors areconfigured to focus light.
 11. The light projector of claim 10, wherein:the first and second mirrors are first and second concave mirrors. 12.The light projector of claim 11, wherein each of the first and secondconcave mirrors is a spherical mirror.
 13. The light projector of claim9, wherein: the first and second optical arrangements further comprisefirst and second lenses respectively for focusing or collimating thelight of the first path and second path respectively.
 14. The lightprojector of claim 9, wherein the image generator comprises a LED array.15. The light projector of claim 14, wherein the image generatorcomprises a micro LED array.
 16. The light projector of claim 9, whereinthe beam splitter is a rectangular cuboid comprising a top face, abottom face, and four side faces, wherein the first optical arrangement,the second optical arrangement, the exit pupil and the image generatorare attached to respective side faces.
 17. A method of assembling alight projector for an augmented reality headset, comprising: providingan image generator configured to provide an image with unpolarizedlight; arranging a beam splitter to receive unpolarised light from theimage generator and to split it into a first path and a second path;arranging a first optical arrangement, having time-invariant opticalproperties and including a first mirror, to reflect and focus light inthe first path so that the light is directed towards the beam splitter;arranging a second optical arrangement, having time-invariant opticalproperties and including a second mirror, to reflect and focus light inthe second path so that the light is directed towards the beam splitter;and aligning the first and second optical arrangements so that the imagefrom the first path is aligned with the image from the second path whenthey are combined by the beam splitter and provided to an exit pupilwith unpolarised light.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein: the firstand second mirrors are first and second concave mirrors.
 19. The methodof claim 17, wherein the image generator is an LED array.
 20. The methodof claim 17, wherein the beam splitter is a rectangular cuboidcomprising a top face, a bottom face, and four side faces, wherein thefirst optical arrangement, the second optical arrangement, the exitpupil and the image generator are attached to respective side faces.